Comparison · 12 material differences
Social Venture Partners International vs Solidaire Network
This comparison was generated on request from the records. It carries no editorial verdict and is not indexed. The published comparisons are listed on the compare page.
Read down each column for one organization, across a row for the difference. A bronze mark at the left of a cell means the organizations differ on that row. A dash or “not published” means the organization does not disclose the fact; it is not a zero.
Verified September 2026
Philanthropic network
Verified September 2026 Social Venture Partners International
Individuals, couples, families, businesses and funders who want to give money and professional skills to nonprofits in their own city, rather than write cheques at a distance
Philanthropic network
Solidaire Network
Individual wealth holders able to move $50,000 or more a year in giving, and professional staff and trustees at grantmaking foundations, who want to direct money toward…
What the records say
- Geographic restriction: Social Venture Partners International: Partners join a local affiliate; membership is not sold by SVPI directly; Solidaire Network: United States.
- Annual dues: Social Venture Partners International: $5,000 a year; Solidaire Network: Not publicly disclosed: the membership page states the criteria but routes fee details into separate individual and institutional membership documents hosted off-site, and no figure appears on the site itself..
Side by side
| Social Venture Partners International | Solidaire Network | |
|---|---|---|
| Profile | ||
| Type | Philanthropic network | Philanthropic network |
| Founded | 1997 (Social Venture Partners was founded in Seattle in 1997 by Paul Brainerd with Scott Oki, Ida Cole, Bill Neukom, Doug Walker and Maggie Walker. Social Venture Partners International, the network body, is younger: SVPI's 2027 Global Summit marks "30 years of SVP and 25 years of SVPI", implying SVPI dates to around 2002.) | 2012 (Sources differ. Wikipedia's article on co-founder Leah Hunt-Hendrix dates the network's founding to 2012; Solidaire's own site says it has been embedded in justice movements "for a decade" and its published timeline begins in 2015. Solidaire Network Inc received its own IRS tax exemption only in May 2020, having previously operated under fiscal sponsorship, so the incorporation date and the founding date are different things.) |
| Headquarters | United States | Oakland, United States |
| Geographic footprint | Affiliates in around 30 cities across six countries, including the United States, Canada, Japan and India | United States, organised through regional hubs rather than formal chapters; the 2024 network gathering was held in Atlanta |
| Members | 2,198as of March 2024 | Not publicly disclosed: Solidaire publishes no member count. It does state that about 40 per cent of members work as professionals at foundations. |
| Chapters | 30 | Solidaire has regional hubs rather than chapters, and does not publish how many. |
| Primary audience | Individuals, couples, families, businesses and funders who want to give money and professional skills to nonprofits in their own city, rather than write cheques at a distance | Individual wealth holders able to move $50,000 or more a year in giving, and professional staff and trustees at grantmaking foundations, who want to direct money toward left-of-centre social justice organising |
| Typical member | Partners are individuals, couples, families, businesses and funders who commit both a financial contribution and skilled volunteer time. The model originated among Pacific Northwest technology wealth in the 1990s and remains professional rather than ultra-high-net-worth: SVP Seattle asks partners to average $5,000 a year and states plainly that even this locks out many people, offering flexibility on the figure. | Individual members are people with wealth who can generally move $50,000 or more in annual giving, whether personally or through a family foundation, donor-advised fund or family office, and who are aligned with Solidaire's stated values. Institutional members are foundation professionals: Solidaire says about 40 per cent of its membership works at foundations of all sizes. The joining form also names donor advisors, money coaches, current and prospective foundation trustees and philanthropy-serving organisation staff as relevant categories. |
| Qualification | ||
| Geographic restriction | Partners join a local affiliate; membership is not sold by SVPI directlyAffiliates operate in around 30 cities across six countries.verified September 2026 · source ↗ | United StatesOrganised through regional hubs; the annual network gathering is held in person in a US city.verified September 2026 · source ↗ |
| Invitation required | No | No |
| Sponsor required | No | Not documented |
| Application process | Prospective partners contact their local affiliate rather than SVPI. SVP Seattle publishes a four-step route: attend a new partner information session, meet with staff or a board member, complete a new partner form and make a personally significant gift, then choose which grant committees, volunteer engagements or advocacy work to join. Communities without an affiliate can apply to SVPI to start one. | Prospective members complete an interest form on the membership page, indicating which categories apply to them and how they heard about Solidaire. The donor organising and philanthropic transformation teams then follow up. Separate individual and institutional membership documents are linked from the page. New members receive an orientation packet. Solidarity Circles are joined by separate application. |
| Selectivity | Not publicly disclosed: no acceptance criteria or rejection process is published. The model is explicitly inclusive: affiliates set flexible contribution levels rather than screening applicants. | Not publicly disclosed: no acceptance rate or review process is published. The effective filters are the $50,000 giving-capacity expectation and alignment with Solidaire's stated political principles. |
| Cost | ||
| Annual dues | $5,000 a yearSVP Seattle asks partners to give an average of $5,000 a year, about $420 a month, and states explicitly that the figure is flexible based on capacity. This is one affiliate's level, not a network-wide fee.verified September 2026 · source ↗ | Not publicly disclosed: the membership page states the criteria but routes fee details into separate individual and institutional membership documents hosted off-site, and no figure appears on the site itself.verified September 2026 · source ↗ |
| Initiation fee | No joining fee is published.verified September 2026 | Not publicly disclosedverified September 2026 |
| Event costs | Not publicly disclosed: Global Summit registration prices are not published; the 2027 Mumbai summit reached venue capacity and closed registration with a waitlist.verified September 2026 · source ↗ | Not publicly disclosed: the annual network gathering's cost is not published.verified September 2026 |
| Membership term | Annual, renewed at affiliate level; SVPI reports an 89 per cent average partner retention rate across the network | Not documented |
| Structure | ||
| Meeting frequency | Affiliate-level grant committee meetings, volunteer engagements and events through the year, plus SVPI fireside chats and the Global Summit | Biweekly virtual member meetings (Beloved Fridays), Solidarity Circles meeting on their own schedules, regional hub gatherings in person and online, drop-in philanthropic transformation caucuses, and one in-person network gathering a year |
| Peer forums | No confidential peer-forum structure. Partners work in affiliate-level grant committees and pro bono consulting teams serving nonprofit investees. | Solidarity Circles (member-driven groups formed around a topic, meeting on their own schedule for a duration the group sets) plus regional hubs and identity- or role-based philanthropic transformation caucuses. Members also run a rapid-response giving listserv for member-led resource mobilisations. |
| Confidentiality | Not publicly disclosed | Not publicly disclosed |
| Time commitment | Not documented | Not documented |
| Organized as | Chapter-based, Event-focused | Event-focused, Virtual, Chapter-based, Forum-based |
| Confidential peer forums | Partial | Yes |
| Local chapters | Yes | Yes |
| Virtual membership | No | Yes |
| Online community | Partial | Yes |
| Member directory | Not documented | Partial |
| Events | Yes | Yes |
| Programming | ||
| Educational programming | Yes | Yes |
| Leadership development | Yes | Yes |
| Retreats | No | Yes |
| Travel | Partial | No |
| Family programming | Partial | Partial |
| Spouse and partner programming | Partial | Not documented |
| Next-generation programming | Not documented | Partial |
| Investment discussions | Partial | Partial |
| Investment opportunities | No | No |
| Philanthropic component | Yes | Yes |
| Networking emphasis | High | High |
| Social emphasis | Medium | Medium |
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Last verified: not yet reviewed
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Sources
Drawn from the sources listed on each page: Social Venture Partners International · Solidaire Network